SC orders KP govt to reopen four women’s crisis centers

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KP) government to reopen four women’s crisis centers in the province that were previously closed.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan upheld the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict and discarded the KP government’s appeal against it.

The KP government had appealed to the apex court against the PHC order regarding reopening of the centers. The PHC had given the order after women working in the centers had petitioned for the centers’ reopening.

During hearing of the case, Justice Dost Muhammad remarked that the centers needed to be reopened as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had taken votes for their promise of empowering women in the province.

“They boast of being the party with the largest female presence and it is time they did something for women in the province,” he added.

Justice Dost Muhammad Khan remarked that reopening of the centers should not be a problem since the government had procured foreign funding for them.

It may be mentioned that the KP government had shut down four crisis centers in the year 2010 citing lack of funds.